Waking Up Dead
by kopiella
Summary: Waking up shortly after talking to his team, Steve finds that everything in his world is not as it seems.


**Waking Up Dead**

_~Thanks to "Tanith2011" for beta reading and editing! ~_

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><p>The sun was bright and stunning as it set behind the vast Pacific Ocean.<p>

Steve McGarrett had an amazing view from the house he resided in on the beach. He sat in a chair beside the window, taking in day's last showing of the gentle beauty of the island. He sighed contentedly as the sun finally disappeared. He turned to his companion.

"Danno, have you ever thought about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful land?" Steve questioned, feeling more happy than he had in a long time.

Danny smiled at him, and shook his head slightly. "You bet. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. It's too cold in the East where Aunt Clara is, and I don't like the smog of California,"

A hearty laugh suddenly erupted from a newcomer. Steve and Danny looked up to see Kono approaching them. Kono plunked down into a chair opposite Steve. "You better believe it bruddah!" He addressed Danny. "Dere ain't no bettah place den right here in Hawaii," Kono smiled and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"You can say that again." Chin-Ho replied, as he sat beside Steve. "It's the perfect place to raise a family too," he smirked slightly. "Especially a family that has eight children!"

The four men laughed lightly at that, and continued to relax in one another's company.

Steve looked around at his men. It was rare that they got to take any breaks at all from their demanding schedule as Five-O detectives, but it was _especially _rare for them to all be able to take off at the same time. However, Steve didn't want to complain. He had once admitted to Chin that he loved each of the men on the team like brothers. It was days like these that made him even more glad to have the men he did on his team. His hardened exterior had cracked upon the arrival of Danny Williams. The young man had been able to find the heart that resided deep within McGarrett, and in time the team grew to love each other as a family.

Steve was feeling uncharacteristically gleeful. He had his men – his brothers – with him, and he was in a beautiful place. He closed his eyes slowly andtuned back into the playful banter between his detectives.

"...she wasn't after you! She wasn't even looking at you, Kono!" Danny exclaimed, trying to appear perturbed, but the smile on his face gave him away.

"Aw, Danny...bruddah, you must not've seen dat girl! She was a comin' after me. And why not? Just take a look at me, bruddah! Wat girl wouldn't wanna have dis?"

Danny was silent and Chin stiffed a laugh at Kono's outraged expression.

The four men continued laughing and exchanging jibes and teasing. After a while, Danny cajoled Kono into telling a story of one of their old surfing exploits from years ago. Steve and Chin laughed and commented on the story, while Danny spent his time arguing with Kono as they tried to get the facts straight.

**H50**

Nurses Nadine Gregson and Noka Amika stared into the room of their patient, feeling both mystified and horrified as they watched the man wake up and continue to ramble on and on to himself.

Nurse Amika looked at her partner hesitantly, "He's at it again." She stated.

Nurse Gregson made no comment, just stared at her patient with an expression of complete concern. She turned to Noka suddenly. "I think it would be best if we called for Dr. Bergman," she said quietly.

Noka bit her lip and nodded. She turned away and left Nadine standing quietly alone.

**H50**

"Well, I don't find it hard to believe Danno," Steve stated simply. "It makes perfect sense,"

"I don't know Steve," Chin said. "It sound's kind of iffy to me..."

_"Steve," a voice commanded.  
><em>

"Iffy! It ain't iffy!" Kono cried out.

"I said that I believe you, Kono," Steve said. "It's – "

_"Steve," the voice said again, interrupting the detective's train of thought._

Steve shook his head slightly and waited a moment before continuing on. "It's...not as far-fetched as Danno is making it seem..." he teased.

_"__Steve." the voice repeated louder._

"Oh, so I'm making it seem far-fetched!" Danny said, amused.

_"__McGarrett!" The voice said, this time almost yelling at the detective._

Steve looked up in the direction of the voice. He saw a large blur, but nothing else. He shook his head harder, and blinked repeatedly.

He glanced around the room. A small wave of panic roused in him as he noticed that he was no longer in the chair by the window, but instead a bed. And that he was missing three detectives.

"McGarrett."

Steve looked up. He saw a woman standing before him. His head tilted sideways a bit, as he tried to put the lady into focus.

"Steve," the woman said gently. "I'm Nurse Gregson. Do you know where you are?"

Steve looked around the room again, confused. "Danno. Kono. Chin...where are they? They were just here," he looked at the nurse expectantly.

Nurse Nadine Gregson hesitated. She was saved from having to respondas she saw Noka and Dr. Bergman enter the room. "Steve," Dr. Bergman stated, looking at his old friend. "Steve, how are you?"

Steve squinted up at the crusty old doctor. "Doc."

Bergman smiled. "Giving the nurses trouble again, Steve?" he joked, not unkindly.

Steve smiled in good nature, but it was short lived. "Doc, did you see Danny, Kono and Chin leave? They were just here..."

Dr. Bergman glanced at Nurses Gregson and Amika'ana, and gestured for them to leave. Once they had left, Bergman turned to Steve and sighed heavily. He sat down in the chair that was beside the bed.

"Steve, Danny, Chin and Kono were not here,"

McGarrett looked at him strangely. "Doc. I would think that I would know my own men by now, and they were definitely here."

"No, Steve, they weren't. They were never here," Bergman replied firmly.

Steve stared at him. The smile that had been on his face slowly disappeared. "Doc, I _know_ they were here. We were just talking. Danno was here, and we were talking about the weather. Then Kono came in and we – "

Bergman took in a deep breath. "Steve. They weren't here. Danny, Kono and Chin died in an explosion two weeks ago."

Steve's eyes bore into Bergman's. "No. That isn't true."

"Yes it is Steve. You were in the explosion too. You were thrown into a coma. You woke up a few days ago."

Steve shook his head. "No...no."

Bergman continued, heavy hearted. "Chin, Danny and Kono died in the explosion. You were standingfurther back. You received many burns and injuries. The most serious being your head injury. You've been in a coma for eleven days. Three days ago, you woke up and began having a conversation with Danny. We put you back on a sedative, hoping it would clear up some of your hallucinations, " Bergman paused for a second, wondering if he should continue with his report.

Steve abruptly sat straight up in bed, becoming painfully aware of the various tubes and wires attached to him, as well as the pain that emitted from nearly every point in his body.

Bergman hopped up, and immediately began trying to calm Steve down.

"It's not true! They were _just _here, doc! I was _just _talking to them! We were in the beach house...we were talking . Kono was telling us a surfing story. Danno was retelling it and Chin..."

"Steve. It was a dream. They aren't alive." The words came out harsh, but Bergman didn't know how else to get through to the hard-headed detective.

"It was real! It had to have been real!"

"Steve! It was a dream. They aren't here anymore. It's just you. It's okay."

"No it isn't okay! You're telling me Danno is dead and Kono and Chin are dead! They can't be dead..." Stevebegan shaking his head once more. But this time, it was because images of fire, smoke and blood began to fill his vision.

He heard a loud scream, and voices shouting his name. He saw Danno and Chin lying motionless on the ground, and the grotesque, unnatural display of Kono's body.

He looked at Bergman with horror-struck eyes. "They're gone."

Bergman looked at him sadly, grief framing his weathered features. "I'm afraid so**,** Steve."

Steve didn't say anything. He turned and faced the wall, as he remembered the events leading up to the explosion and then the explosion itself. He felt sick and in shock. He had just been talking with them. They had just been in his life. Now they were gone. Now he didn't know what he had to live for. They became his family. Chin's wife had practically adopted him, especially after his sister died from the same illness that had killed her baby.

Danno. Kono. Chin. They were his only family. They were gone. He had no one. One day, he would die alone, without his closest friends by his side. Without any of his _brothers_. He felt an overwhelming amount of grief hit him as he realized what this meant. He had always known he might lose men during the line of duty, but never all three of the men he cherished at the same time.

Suddenly, Steve wished he had died in that explosion. It was an insane thought and completely uncharacteristic of him, but he wished it nonetheless. He wished it, because he figured that dying with his comrades would have been much better than waking up alone and without any of his men alive. He wished it, because he felt dead inside, and he knew that there was not a physical or painful death that existed, that could nearly be as painful as the living kind of dead. The kind where you did wake up, but it was for nothing, as you were waking up dead.


End file.
